Army National Guardsman's story tugged at heartstrings

WEST SALEM -- A couple of years ago, Lt. Col. Paul Boak surprised his daughter, Carrie, when he returned home from Afghanistan to see her "graduate."

The Daily Record captured video of the emotional event, and posted it on YouTube to accompany the original story. From the time the video was posted on May 31, 2012, the video (and a longer version of it) has resonated with people across the country and the world. The original version has been seen by nearly a quarter-of-a-million people. Combined, the two videos have been viewed close to 300,000 times.

The Daily Record decided to catch up with the Boak family to see how life has changed over these past two years.

Although Paul assumed he would only get four days off to celebrate his daughter's fifth-grade graduation two years ago, he instead was returned home permanently to serve stateside for the Ohio Army National Guard. He has been a member of the National Guard for 32 years, and by the end of 2014, he will finish his military career and spend his time with wife, Candice, and his three children, Carrie, 13, Lindsay, 12, and Little Paul (aka Buddy), 8.

Two years ago, when Paul received time off for Carrie's graduation, he promised a trip to see "The Avengers" and to eat at The Barn restaurant in Smithville.

"I did keep my promise to go to the movies with them," Paul said.

"He did everything he said he would do," Candice said.

Now, Paul works through the Wounded Warriors Program of the Ohio National Guard. He still serves as an active soldier, but is able to be home every night.

"I get to wrestle my son, play basketball with my daughter and baseball and listen to my oldest daughter's stories," Paul said.

"Since he's home now, one of the nice things is he coached basketball for Lindsay for the Ohio Storm sixth-grade girls, so he was able to do that, which is the first time," Candice said. "He's assistant den leader for (Little) Paul's Cub Scout (Pack)."

With financial support from the National Guard, Paul was able to earn his degree in secondary education, which he hopes to use once he retires. He has had some primary interviews with Northwestern School District, where his children attend, to work there in some capacity.

"Back in the '80s, I was a Scoutmaster and coached youth football even before I got married and had kids. That's probably why I got steered into the educational part of college because I liked working with kids at that time and I just kind of got away from working with the kids once I went to flight school," Paul said.

Candice said the simple joy of having another parent around to drive the three kids to various events and activities takes a load off of her shoulders.

"But I don't have to do it by myself anymore," Candice said. "It used to be, trying to get three kids at three different places at the same time."

Paul joked he was able to move Ohio's largest deployment of 2,500 soldiers to Kuwait in 2009 with no problem, but cannot move his family of five about nine miles down the road without being late.

His three children said they do not have any interest in joining the military, but Carrie may join the U.S. Army to help her pay for medical school to become a dentist. Paul said each child will receive one year of education benefits through his post-9/11 GI Bill.

Another activity Paul can now enjoy is assembling model railroad tracks and trains. When deployed, Paul would often order model sets online but they were never assembled.

"They have a hobby of model railroading, so that is one thing that they get to do together now as a family," Candice said. "It's a pretty big layout. Carrie and Lindsay have built some of the model houses and done some of the landscaping."

In addition to building model trains, Paul said he is eager to hunt and fish, as well as enjoy the garden he worked on behind his house.

"We like to be at home. We like to be with the kids," Candice said. "That's huge for us."

Contact Abby Armbruster at 330-287-1632 or email her at aarmbruster@the-daily-record.com. Follow her on Twitter @abbyarmbruster.